Susceptibility of plants to aphids

[Tony Travis]

Owen Atkin said:
> 
> Dear Tony,
> 
> Thanks for your reply concerning my inquiry about the aphid/alpine-arctic

I hope you don't mind if I post a reply here Owen: you've raised an
issue that may be interesting to discuss further on bionet.plants.

> question.  Your suggestion that the aphids may be predating the thinner alpine
> leaves because of easier access to the phloem is a good one - only 
> problem is that the aphids actually infested the thicker leaves of the 
> arctic ecotypes, rather than the leaves of the alpine.  I may have made a 
> mistake in the message I sent out to bionet.plants.

Maybe the phloem is nearer the surface or more easily accessible in the
arctic ecotypes?

> In a few weeks I will look more closely at the internal leaf anatomy of the
> leaves (with Dr Nancy Dengler).  This may give some indication as to 
> whether the leaves differ  iways that may help resist aphids

We've just written a couple of papers (in press) about the use of image
analysis to measure cell wall thickness and other anatomical features
automatically:

Travis, A.J., Murison, S.D. & Chesson, A. (1993).  Estimation of plant
	cell wall thickness and cell size by image skeletonization, Journal
	of Agricultural Science, Cambridge, 120, xx-xx.

Travis, A.J., Murison, S.D., Chesson,A. & Walker, K.C. (1993). 
	Quantitative measurement of stem anatomy as an indicator of
	varietal performance.  Aspects of Applied Biology, Physiology of
	Varieties, 34, xx-xx.

Perhaps it would be interesting to compare your leaves using a similar
technique?

	Tony.
-- 
Dr. A.J.Travis,                       |  Tony Travis
Rowett Research Institute,            |  JANET: <ajt at uk.ac.sari.rri>
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